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In the Military
Gregg K. Kakesako
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Japan to help in anti-missile test
A destroyer will first try to track and then knock down a target launched from Kauai
The Japanese Aegis-class destroyer Kongo is expected to be the allied warship to try to kill a dummy missile in mid-December at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai's Barking Sands. The Japanese warship will arrive here next month to participate in two missile tests at Kauai conducted by the Missile Defense Agency.
Christopher Taylor, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, said the first test in November will be a tracking exercise, while the second will be an attempt by the Kongo to knock down a target missile fired from Barking Sands.
"The flight test, before the end of the year, will be the first intercept attempt, with the Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) system and the SM-3 (interceptor missile), by an allied country," Taylor said in an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin. "Their (Japanese) previous participation has been long-range surveillance."
The Associated Press in Japan said the interceptors test will take place during the week of Dec. 17. The wire service reported that the U.S. military deployed a mobile missile-tracking system in northern Japan on Friday as part of a joint defense pact to protect against the missile threat from North Korea. The Joint Tactical Ground Station, a mobile station that can detect and analyze satellite data on ballistic missile launches, arrived at Misawa Air Base in Aomori prefecture, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry spokeswoman. It is the first mobile U.S. missile tracking system to be deployed in Japan.
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The U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii will open a new photograph exhibit, featuring photographs by Army Quartermaster Cpl. Elmer J. Williams and depicting his experiences on New Caledonia in 1944 and 1945, on Oct. 16.
The exhibit -- "Tour of Paradise: An American Soldier in the South Pacific" -- will be on display through May 4. The museum is located on Kalia Road adjacent to the Hale Koa Hotel. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. The exhibit is on loan from the University of Queensland in cooperation with the Australian Consulate General in Hawaii.
"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other sources by reporter
Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at
gkakesako@starbulletin.com.